


the one that got away

by Hugabug



Category: Academia (Anthropomorphic), Buhay Kolehiyo, SSU, Sexy Sexy Universities
Genre: Break Up, Light Angst, M/M, Nostalgia, School Reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 15:38:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11626605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hugabug/pseuds/Hugabug
Summary: What's become of us now, huh?





	the one that got away

The air outside is clean, cold and crisp, still and quiet, the smell of an unburdened sky breathing out one big sigh of relief. Salle contemplates the box of cigarettes in his hand, wondering if he could bring himself to ruin the stillness of the night. He pauses, and decides against it.  
  
"I didn't know you quit."  
  
The voice is teasing, as light and airy as the breeze that blows past. On reflex, Salle smiles and shakes his head.  
  
"No. No." He says. "Just not tonight."  
  
A laugh breaks out in reply. It's a small laugh, polite and unassuming, drawing no attention to itself whatsoever. Salle keeps an ear out for it, heart skipping a beat, yearning for more, when its owner comes to a stop about a foot next to him.  
  
Neo sighs. "It is a good night."  
  
Salle looks at him. At the crows feet around his eyes and thick brown hair that has gone nearly gold with all the silver woven through. But the cut of his delicate jaw remains, and the mole under his left eye still stands out, and Salle remembers those nights, fingers in each other's hair, smiles pressed against smiles, limbs tangled, not knowing where one ended and the other began.  
  
Back then, Salle thought they could go on forever.  
  
_Maybe we could've._  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I said Phil and Tomas look happy." Salle corrects himself, letting a little smirk play at the corner of his mouth. "Are you going deaf as well as blind?"  
  
Neo wrinkles his nose and sniffs. "I swear, I'm never taking my reading glasses out in front of you again." Salle chuckles. "And yes, they do look happy. Anniversary nila ngayon, diba?"  
  
"Kahapon. I think their 17th?"  
  
"Ang tagal na pala nila. Parang they only got together yesterday, 'noh?"  
  
There's a smile in there, he can hear it. Private and hidden behind the shadows that play across a pale face. Salle ducks down to catch a glimpse, like a man with a craving, and blue eyes meet his, curious.  
  
"What?" Neo asks, the smile growing wider, preening under the attention. Salle watches it curve across cheeks he so long ago pressed against his lips. Time hasn't been good to them, lining their faces with creases borne of both laughter and frustration. Yet here, under the soft candle like glow of the streetlights, Salle wonders if he's ever seen anything more beautiful.  
  
(But there's something else, too. A sharp twinge, melancholic and painful, a thought in the back of his head-- _I wish I'd been there to soothe some of those lines away_.)  
  
( _What's become of us now, huh?_ )  
  
"Do you think we could've been as happy as they are?"  
  
Neo blinks. The smile on his face slips, and Salle's heart pounds, steady against his sternum-- _Thud. Thud. Thud._  
  
"I don't know." Neo says, an echo of the yearning that pulls at Salle's very core in every syllable, every word. Then, he smiles. Again. Geniune and more breathtaking than the last. "Does it matter?"  
  
And just like that, Salle's chest goes still. "Not anymore."  
  
They laugh, loud and long and achingly real and when the quiet takes over once more, it's comfortable.


End file.
